


Emotional Machine

by ninablossom1



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Becomes Deviant Sooner, Crime Scenes, CyberLife (Detroit: Become Human) is Terrible, Detectives, Deviancy (Detroit: Become Human), Deviant Connor (Detroit: Become Human), Dorks in Love, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Morality, Mystery, Original Character(s), Paradigm Shift, Slow Burn, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:07:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24762853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninablossom1/pseuds/ninablossom1
Summary: The secret of deviancy was very well kept by everyone at Cyberlife. Like a pressure cooker barely keeping it's lid secure. Yet she still managed to get burned by the company she was willing to die for. Was it really worth it when that same company violated everything human about her?
Relationships: Connor (Detroit: Become Human)/Original Female Character(s), Hank Anderson/Connor, Hank Anderson/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 8





	1. Deviancy

Ophelia Bennett didn’t quite expect to be called in on her day off. Especially her birthday. It wasn’t like she minded all that much. Birthdays didn’t matter very much past your 40s, just another day closer to death, especially with the line of work she was in. Ben Collins was sending her the information she needed and she blinked a few times, the LED on her right temple circling yellow before going back to blue. 

“So much for relaxing huh bubs?” Ophelia stated to the cat curled up next to her on a soft blanket. She petted the yellow tabby before getting up from the small yet comfortable couch and throwing some black slacks on and a decent looking blue floral blouse and wrapped herself in a black raincoat. She went to the bathroom and put her auburn almost ginger hair in a messy bun and put on a little makeup to make herself somewhat presentable. Moving back to the living room, she picked out some boots by the door, judging by the weather and information that Collins gave her she was going to need it. 

Before she walked out the door she placed some more food in the tabby’s bowl before grabbing an umbrella from the hook beside the door and heading out into the downpour. She opened the umbrella before stepping onto the dock her “home” was attached to and watched as the boat rocked slightly in the water. Ophelia walked up the ramp and looked to her left. There stood Hank’s home, one of her closest friends, even before the incident that resulted in her current body. 

She waited patiently outside of Hank’s home for him to get her, listening to the rain pelt onto the plastic of her umbrella and humming to herself to occupy her mind. Hank had messaged her a few minutes prior to her leaving saying something about an android dragging him out of a bar. Honestly, it was nonsense but she figured he would be there soon if he was at Jimmy’s, which was highly likely since he wasn’t home. 

Just as she figured she saw Hank’s beat-up car turn around the corner and stop in his driveway. She curiously peered into the window to see Hank and a Cyberlife android beside him. She absently thought that it was cute before she gave Hank a puzzled look before lifting her hand to wave hello and got inside the car. 

“Good evening Hank, and I’m sorry, we’ve never met, I’m Ophelia Bennet,” She extended her hand to the android who took it and shook firmly while awkwardly twisting in the front seat. 

“I’m Connor, the android sent by Cyberlife. It is nice to meet you… I’m sorry, I'm not sure what your title is, your information is labeled as confidential in my database.” Its face fell into a frown and Ophelia could feel her chest tighten. New. This was a new feeling, abnormal. Diagnostically fine, but this was a human feeling, something she hadn’t felt for a while. Her body was slightly warm and coolant moved through her system as a reaction. She tried to brush the feeling as just a slight malfunction. Her body adjusted from the coolness of the world outside the car which was abnormally warm.

Ophelia laughed a little awkwardly and Hank looked more than annoyed at his new companion. “I’m technically a detective.” She looked at Hank with a slight frown in the rearview mirror before turning back to the Android. “However, with the current attitude towards Androids, I’m just a consultant for the DPD working on Deviant cases, I also report to Cyberlife on some of my findings if it is pertinent.” 

“See, I told you we had a perfectly good person working on these cases, so I’m not sure why Cyberlife sent you,” Hank stated while pulling up to the address Collins had given Ophelia and Connor on his phone. 

“Hank, Cyberlife obviously was upset at my departure so they had to create an android to replace me, I was just that good,” She said sarcastically while looking at Connor with a smile. “Don’t take any offense to that, Connor.” 

“I do not take offense, Detective Bennet, I am an android after all,” Connor stated with a smile, one that seemed genuine but obviously programmed to make humans feel more comfortable. 

She nodded with a smile and sat back in the seat behind Hank. Trying to sort through why all of this felt off. Everyone in the car settled into an uncomfortable quiet. Hank had his music blasting so there wouldn’t have been much talking that could be heard over his music. She flicked her eyes up to the two in front of her. 

Ophelia had known that Cyberlife was trying to create an android to help them deal with the deviant issue. It was a well-kept secret that Cyberlife couldn’t seem to keep a lid on. Deviants had been an issue since the beginning. From the little scraps of memories that Ophelia had from before the accident she knew she was a part of it. Part of keeping the lid on a pot that was about to explode with pressure. They used her and her work to create what was sitting in the front seat of Hank’s car and she wasn’t sure if she was okay with that or not. Maybe having an Android that would replace her, like the other humans, would be in her benefit. She could actually focus on her job rather than what Cyberlife’s greedy fingers wanted from her. They wanted results and an Android who didn’t have the complexities of something that wasn’t quite human but wasn’t an Android would serve better and get them what they wanted. 

Ophelia wrapped her jacket a little closer to her body as the car slowly crawled up to the crime scene and stopped in front of the extremely worn-down home. Ophelia quickly opened the door of the car and shut it before flashing a badge at the officer behind the holographic police tape and walked through. Ophelia just wanted to get this over with and go home.

She had already gotten the briefing from Collins when he sent the information to her so she didn’t bother to wait for Hank or Conner who were listening to Collins give the same information to them before stepping back outside, not being able to deal with the stench of rotting corpse mixed with who knows what else decomposing in the house.  
Ophelia was there as a formality, she honestly wasn’t needed with Connor being there. Not that she really minded all that much. She got to observe the Android performing its prime function and analyze the newest upgrades to Cyberlife tech. Her eyes flicked over its form as she watched it analyze the blood of Carlos Ortiz and the Thirium 310 that it noticed on the floor as well. “Interesting.” She whispered to herself as Hank made a ruckus about Connor sampling the blood. 

After Hank walked away to go lean on one of the walls and followed Connor into the kitchen where it seemed to pause to analyze the scene. Reconstruction. Ophelia remembered that they had implemented something similar into one of the early models of the RK series but it only had the capability to construct a designated path, not reconstruct an entire scene that played out. 

“Connor,” Ophelia called out and caught the Android’s attention. 

“Yes, Detective?” Conner asked, turning towards the woman.

“Are you able to tell me what happened here?” She motioned around the kitchen with her hand, noticing Hank move into the kitchen to watch. 

Connor looked around the room one last time quickly gathering the information it observed. “I believe that the victim originally attacked the deviant with a bat,” It’s dark brown eyes moved to look at the bat on the floor, covered in blue blood, Ophelia noted. “I believe this is when the Android officially became deviant. In an attempt to defend itself it grabbed the knife from the rack and attacked the victim. The altercation continued into the living area where the victim tripped and fell against the wall where the deviant proceeded to kill the victim by stabbing him 28 times.”

Connor concluded its statement and Ophelia turned toward Hank and gave him an impressed nod. Hank stepped forward. “Do you know where the deviant went?” 

The Android faltered slightly, just a small twitch of its eye. “Not yet.” It admitted looking towards the backdoor before analyzing the area outside. Ophelia shrugged towards Hank. 

“Give it a break Hank, it may be programmed for this but it is still learning. We’ve been analyzing crime scenes for years, it has had one other instance of use since this point.” Ophelia stated moving towards the bathroom. 

Hank only grunted and rolled his eyes before returning to the wall to wait for his new companion to finish. Ophelia could tell that even with the gruff exterior Hank was warming up a tiny little smidge, especially since he gave it the opportunity to figure this out itself. 

Ophelia stepped into the cramped bathroom after one of the CSI’s had finished photographing, saying how weird it was in there. She hummed in interest, her eyes focusing and analyzing the wording scribbled on the wall in the shower. She cross-referenced it to some other cases she had consulted on. “rA9…” She whispered, bending down and picking up a statue of a humanoid figure made of mud or clay. It was dry by now so it had been there for a while. She placed it back down to leave for the CSI to collect. She walked back out and noticed Hank looking particularly annoyed as Connor replaced her in the bathroom to analyze what was in there. 

“Hey, Connor!” Hank yelled causing the Android to pop back out into the kitchen. “Let’s go, the deviant obviously left a while ago, it’s just CSI work left.”

“Wait, Lieutenant Anderson, just a little while longer,” Connor asked, eyes flashing into the briefest panic. It wanted to solve this case, complete its task. 

Hank sighed and rubbed his face. “Fine, five minutes. That’s it, then we are leaving.” 

Connor nodded before doing another scan of the kitchen and then the hallway leading into the bathroom. Ophelia watched as he quickly pulled the curtain hanging at the end of the hall hiding boxes that were stacked to the ceiling. His eyes flashed to hers and she understood. Attic. 

Connor quickly made his way to the kitchen to grab a chair which caused Hank to ask the Android rather loudly where he was taking the evidence. 

Connor only continued to take the chair to where the opening to the attic was. Ophelia and Hank watched as he disappeared into the opening. 

“See anything?” Ophelia asked from below. 

Connor responded with a brief “Nothing yet.”

Ophelia and Hank waited below and Hank got frustrated and called out to Connor who didn’t respond for a moment before yelling out. 

“Lieutenant It’s here!”

“Fuck, Millers get over here!” Hank exclaimed, pulling his pistol out. Ophelia stepped back and let the officers retrieve the HK400 model Android and take it out of the house. She watched as Connor dropped back down from the attic after making sure there was no other evidence. 

“Connor, great job!” Ophelia stated, patting the tall Android on the shoulder and looking at Hank while darting her eyes at Connor to get the man in front of her to give it a compliment. 

“Yeah, whatever, good job,” Hank dismissed waving his hand in the air and walking out of the house to get into his car. Ophelia and Connor followed behind the man.  
As Ophelia stepped out of the house making very light conversation with Connor about the RK model’s capabilities, Ben Collins caught her arm. 

“Bennett, I know it’s late a little late,” Collins said looking at his watch and handing the woman a card. “But the DPD wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday.” 

Ophelia smiled and took the card. Connor watched the interaction, a small smile creeping onto its face as he watched Ophelia hug Ben and thank him for the card before making a joke about how he better get back to work cleaning up the crime scene. He only rolled his eyes but smiled anyways. Connor marked the moment in his data to see why there was a small script malfunction to analyze later. 

“I did not know it was your Birthday, Detective, otherwise I would have wished it well,” Connor stated on their way to Hank's car.

“It’s really not that big of a deal,” Ophelia laughed, placing the card in an inner pocket of her jacket to keep it dry. “You didn’t have access to my file anyways.”

“Might I ask you a personal question, Detective?” Connor asked, his hand hovering near the passenger side door staring at her from across the car’s roof. Her eyes flicked to Hank’s who was looking at her in the side mirror, his face reading ‘hurry it up’.

“Of course,” She responded, her fingers gripping the handle of the backseat door for a quick escape. 

“Did you choose to live in the body of an Android?”

“No, I did not.” She said a little bitterly, looking away from the deep brown eyes and the slight tilt of concern that flashed his features. He was reading her facial expression. 

“I understand.” He nodded before getting into the car. 

Ophelia sighed and got into the car.


	2. Interrogator

Ophelia leaned up against the wall near Connor, her eyes flicking back and forth between Hank, who was interrogating the deviant android they found at the Ortiz crime scene and Gavin Reed, who looked borderline angry that Connor was there period but was still carefully watching the scene unfold with Hank and the android before him. 

Hank slammed his fists onto the table of the interrogation room in frustration because Ortiz’s android wasn’t talking. Giving up he got up and walked back into the observation room. 

“We're wasting our time interrogating a machine, we'll get nothing out of it,” Hank stated angrily, slumping down in a seat beside Miller.

Reed had made his way to the wall of the observation room next to Ophelia who moved forward as soon as he did so in order to, not only get away from the man but to stare at the deviant in the next room. It didn’t even move, just stared at the table. 

“We could always try roughing it up a little. After all, it’s not human,” Reed suggested smugly, glancing at Ophelia with a smirk. 

“Androids don’t feel pain,” Connor piped up. “You would only damage it, and that wouldn’t make it talk.” 

Reed sighed deeply, annoyed. 

Connor continued, “Deviants have a tendency to self-destruct when they’re in stressful situations.”

“Okay, Smartass,” Reed stated, pushing himself off the wall and towards Connor. “What should we do then?”

There was a small pause. “I could try questioning it,” Connor stated, looking at everyone in the room. 

Reed laughed. His nauseating fake laugh, obviously extremely amused by the notion of the android even being remotely successful. He returned to his perch on the wall shaking his head. Ophelia gave him a hateful side glance, still watching the deviant in the other room. It was so secret she hated Reed. Her attention was brought back to Hank when he moved his hand up in a shrug. 

“What do we have to lose?” Hank stated looking back at Connor. “Go ahead, suspect is all yours.”

Ophelia looked at Hank before watching Connor silently leave the room. When the door was shut and he was in the other room she spoke up. 

“Hank, are you sure this is a good idea?” 

“See, even Princess agrees putting an android in there to interrogate another android is a bad idea,” Reed stated. 

“That’s not what I fucking said you dickhead,” Ophelia snapped, glaring at Reed before turning back to Hank. “All I’m saying is that we aren’t sure what Cyberlife tech is capable of and I don’t want a case ruined because we let Cyberlife fuck with things they shouldn’t be.” 

“Bennett, I understand how you feel about Cyberlife, but aren’t you the one who said to give the thing a chance, hell, you’re probably the closest thing to what it is and you’re questioning its capabilities,” Hank stated, leaning back in his chair slightly. 

“I just think we need to-”

“If you have an issue with this you can leave, but I thought you would have been more interested seeing the deviant hunter in action,” Hank stated, putting an end to the conversation to watch Connor. 

“Fine,” Ophelia stated, crossing her arms over her chest and standing next to Hank to watch the Android perform another one of its basic tasks. 

Connor flipped through the file on the table and spread the photos out, analyzing all the data he had collected before turning around and staring straight into the two-way mirror, straight at Ophelia. It was as if it… he was daring her to watch him extract a confession. He wanted to prove to not only her but everyone in that room he was worthy to be there, even if he didn’t quite know it yet. 

“What the fuck is it doing now?” Hank questioned absently, seeing it’s line of sight. 

Connor sat slowly in the seat across from the deviant and stared for a moment. Ophelia noticed his eyes flickering along the body of what was in front of it. Analyzing anything it could use against it to abstract what it needed. To complete its mission. 

Connor pulled the file towards the deviant and showed the gruesome photos to the deviant. “You recognize him?” 

Silence. Ophelia noticed the smile rise in stress. 

“It’s Carlos Ortiz. Stabbed, 28 times.” Connor stated, he moved a photo. “That was written on the wall in his blood.” 

“You’re damaged. Did your owner do that? Did he beat you?” Connor asked.

He was trying to get it at an optimal stress level, Ophelia noted when she saw that it had spiked again. What is his angle…

“You’ve refused to talk since they arrested you. If you don’t cooperate they’ll do things the hard way. Is that what you want?”

Still silent. 

“You don’t seem to understand the situation. You killed a human. They’ll tear you apart if you don’t say something.” 

“Listen, I'm on your side, I want to help you but there is nothing I can do if you don’t talk to me.”

“W-What are they gonna do to me? They’re gonna destroy me aren't’ they?” It suddenly started talking, it’s tone panicked. Ophelia uncrossed her arms and leaned forward on the desk, watching intently. 

“No… I think they just want to understand. They know your master abused you. It wasn't your fault.” Connor’s voice sounded insanely sincere and Ophelia wondered if that was part of its programming, to effortlessly switch from good cop to bad cop in order to manipulate who or whatever was in front of it... him. Almost human, but not quite there. 

“Why did you tell them you found me? Why couldn’t you have just left me there?” It questioned.

“I was programmed to hunt deviants like you. I just accomplished my mission.” Connor stated coldly. 

“I don’t wanna die.” The deviant choked out. 

“Then talk to me,” Connor said softly.

“I-I… I can’t…” It faltered, hanging its head again. 

This interrogation was giving Ophelia whiplash, one second Connor was next to human, soft and understanding, and the very next moment he was robotic and cold, uncaring almost. Classic interrogation tactics but instead of one person playing off another, he was purely playing off himself, reading the deviant and every move it made in order to react with one or the other to keep the stress level where he needed it. He needed to make the android “sweat” for lack of a better word. 

“I understand how you felt. You were overcome by anger, frustration. No one can blame you for what happened.” Connor said softly, trying to coax the deviant out. 

“Okay then, don’t talk,” Connor stated, seemingly frustrated by leaning back in his chair and opening his arms wide before leaning back forward. “What do I care after all? I mean, I’m not the one accused of murder, right?” 

Connor got closer for what he was about to say next. “They’ll make you suffer, and they won't stop until they hear what they want. It doesn’t have to be that way. It all depends on you.” 

“He tortured me everyday…”The deviant trailed off. 

“Son of a bitch,” Ophelia stated, just listening to the Android spill everything. He did it, Connor actually did it. 

Everyone in the room was listening and watching. Ophelia even noticed a slight smile on Hank’s lips. He was proud. Not that he would ever say anything. 

Ophelia continued to watch Connor collect the information from the deviant and when he was out of questions to ask that would possibly be answered he looked towards the mirror, straight at Ophelia again. 

“I’m done.” He stated, getting out of his chair and heading towards the handprint scanner in order to leave the room. 

Miller and Reed got up to enter the room the moment that Connor stood up. 

Hank and Ophelia looked at each other before slowly following. Miller had started to move the deviant.

“Alright, let’s go,” Chris Miller stated, trying to grab the android. 

“Leave me alone,” the deviant said quickly, pulling away from Miller frantically. “Don’t touch me.” 

“The fuck you doin’?” Reed asked, stepping closer in order to step into the situation. 

“You shouldn’t touch it. It’ll self-destruct if it feels threatened. ” Connor stated sternly, watching the struggle. 

“Reed you should listen, the LED is flashing bright fucking red,” Ophelia stated, stepping near Connor.

“Shut up, Princess.” Gavin Reed snapped before turning to Connor. “Stay outta this, got it? No fuckin’ android is going to tell me what to do.” 

“You don’t understand, if it self-destructs we won't get anything out of it,” Connor said more sternly, his voice rising a bit. 

“Reed just fucking listen for once in your life it’s not going to end well if you don’t listen.” Ophelia tried to keep her voice even but she wanted to punch the man in the face. 

“I told you to shut your fucking mouth!” Reed said harshly, trying to get a handle on the situation. “Chris, are you gonna move this asshole or what?”

“I’m trying,” Chris stated with gritted teeth, struggling to move the deviant. 

“I can’t let you do that,” Connor stated, pushing past Ophelia, Reed, and Chris in order to keep everyone away from the deviant. “Leave it alone now.” 

“Jesus fucking Christ Reed!” Ophelia exclaimed when he pulled his gun on Connor. 

“I warned you, Motherfucker!” Reed snarled, aiming right at Connor’s head. 

“That’s enough,” Hank said calmly.

“Mind your own business, Hank,” Reed snapped. 

“I said ‘that’s enough’” Hank pulled his gun out and pointed it at Reed. 

“I can’t imagine the fucking report,” Ophelia stated under her breath turning around and holding her head not wanting to watch this go down.

“Fuck,” Reed snarled, putting his gun down. “You’re not gonna get away with it this time. Fuck!” 

Reed brushed past Ophelia on his way out the door, absolutely fuming. 

“God Fowler is gonna be so fucking mad,” Ophelia groaned before going back into the observation room to grab her jacket. Two cards fell out of her inner pocket and she picked them up. 

She opened the envelope that had a careful scrawl of her name first, the one from the department, it was a very basic birthday card. Everyone had signed it but Hank, which led her to the second envelope. Blue, no name on the front. Very Hank-like. She pulled the card out and it made her snort, he had gotten a custom card with Sumo and Bubs on it cuddling. How sappy. Inside he placed a $10 bill and wrote: ‘For a drink or whatever the fuck you ingest now. Happy Birthday, 40 sucks.’

Ophelia smiled and placed the cards back in her jacket. Maybe she would leave the last incident out of the report.


End file.
